SARATOGA SPRINGS — A season that started with a wandering moose at Saratoga Race Course ended with the release of a rehabilitated red-tailed hawk that a track worker had shot down.

In what surely qualifies as a classic Saratoga tale, volunteer wildlife rehabilitators with North Country Wild Care freed a young hawk Wednesday on the 106-acre Greentree Training Center horse farm, where a worker had discovered the wounded animal more than two months ago.

Using a slingshot and a rock, horse groom Carlos O. Aguilar, 28, struck the hawk at the track on July 18. The stone broke the bird's right wing. Over a period of days, the bird made its way to a treed area on the stately Greentree farm, which adjoins the track property and is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.

A farm worker discovered the hawk and had it captured. It went home with wildlife specialist Cara Huffman of Saratoga Springs on the racetrack's opening day in late July. She fed and nursed it back to health.

"We wrapped the wing in a soft cast and wrap, which acted like a natural splint," Huffman said.

She kept the hawk confined in a large crate for more than six weeks so it could recuperate. It was fed rats and mice. The hawk, believed to be at least 2 years old, went through a rat a day.

The nameless bird is believed to have made his home on the sheikh's farm prior to its injury. Two other hawks that farm workers say may have nested with it and accompanied it on the rails of the ground's training track have since disappeared, said the workers, who asked to remain anonymous.

Red-tailed hawks are among the most commonly sighted hawks in the United States and Canada. The raptors have a wingspan of 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 feet and can weigh more than three pounds. They are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

On Wednesday, North Country Wild Care volunteer Trish Marki of Saratoga Springs recounted what the animal endured prior to its rescue.

Marki said that Aguilar fired the rock at the bird while it was standing on a roof at the track eyeballing a cage full of pigeons. The act was witnessed by bystanders, who reported it to authorities. Hit, the red-tailed hawk bounced off the roof of a car and fell to the ground. Multiple people who saw the bird in different locations over the next few days called wildlife experts.

Aguilar had worked for a horse trainer from Kentucky, but had allegedly left the track shortly after the incident, according to a DEC officer. Further investigation resulted in locating the suspect in a different area of the racetrack working for another horse trainer from Kentucky, the DEC officer said.

Aguilar was arrested and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally taking a protected wild bird. He was fined $250 and turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, which investigated his immigration status. Aguilar was reportedly deported to his home in Guatemala, but that could not be confirmed late Wednesday.

North Country Wild Care responds to more than 5,000 calls a year for injured or orphaned wildlife. Huffman is presently working at her home with another red-tail hawk with a broken wing, a baby broad-winged hawk, three opossums whose mother was killed by a car, and a squirrel.

On Wednesday, just after 11 a.m., Huffman took the rejuvenated hawk out of a cardboard box to prepare it for freedom. It had a brown and white body, a yellow beak, yellow feet and a rusty red tail. It wore a hood over its head so it would remain calm.

"He's very bouncy," Huffman said. "A lot of red-tails are mellow, but not him."

The hawk became slightly anxious when the hood came off. Huffman said she was happy to let it go. So she did.

When red-tail hawks are released, they either go batty and fly away fast, or just sit around looking for direction, Huffman said.

There was never any doubt with the Saratoga hawk. It left its healer's hands, then soared to the farm's colorful treeline and the cloudy skies of late September.

Dennis Yusko can be reached at 454-5353 or by e-mail at dyusko@timesunion.com.